Calipari Defends Cats' Schedule

Calipari Defends Cats' Schedule

In the wake of Kentucky announcing it's ending the series with Indiana, John Calipari defends his scheduling decisions.

In the wake of Kentucky announcing it's ending the series with Indiana, John Calipari defends his scheduling decisions.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - John Calipari calls Kentucky a "nontraditional" program that can no longer adhere to the "25-year-old model" of scheduling five-year home-and-home contracts with non-conference opponents, such as Indiana.

Calipari took to his website, CoachCal.com, late Sunday night to defend his position on how UK should and would schedule future non-conference games.

Last week, the school announced its annual series with Indiana would not continue this year. Also, UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart said the North Carolina series is closer to being discontinued than remaining.

Calipari claims because Kentucky endures so much roster turnover from one year to the next, he must "protect the program" by not making the schedule "ridiculously hard."

Calipari also says he views the regular season as a preparation for the NCAA tournament, which plays its games at neutral sites and in large arenas. For that reason, Calipari prefers playing more non-conference games in similar settings to better acclimate his team to that atmosphere in lieu of entering hostile environments like Indiana's Assembly Hall.